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Mountain goat meat
Ninh Binh goat meat is tastier than goat meat from other regions because the goats here are mainly raised on limestone mountain ranges, feeding on a variety of leaves, resulting in tender and firm meat. Furthermore, the people of Ninh Binh have their own unique breeding techniques, making goat meat a famous specialty throughout the country.
Goat meat – a specialty of Ninh Binh – is prepared in many different ways, and under the skillful hands of the people of this mountainous region, each dish has its own delicious and appealing flavor. These include goat meat with lemon, goat blood soup, stir-fried goat, goat hotpot, pan-fried goat, grilled goat, goat porridge, goat in wine sauce, and goat stir-fry… When enjoying these dishes, diners not only savor the food but also become captivated by the expansive yet somewhat wild natural beauty of this place.
Among goat dishes, raw goat meat served with Bần soy sauce and various herbs is a favorite for many. There are three types of raw goat meat: dipped raw, rolled raw, and sesame raw. Of these, sesame raw is the best because it has many spices and, especially, the richness and fragrant aroma of roasted peanuts.
The ingredients for making raw goat meat (tai de) are, of course, goat meat, galangal, star fruit, lemongrass, green bananas, figs, roasted sesame seeds, and soy sauce. To make delicious raw goat meat, you need to know how to choose the right meat. The meat must have both skin and meat; lean meat alone won't taste good. Usually, the meat from the two sides of the ribs (in pigs, this is pork belly) is the most suitable for raw goat meat. It has chewy yet tender skin, a little fat but not greasy, and lean meat that isn't dry or fibrous.
Goat meat salad is served with ginger sauce (sour, sweet, spicy, and pungent), accompanied by various aromatic herbs such as fig leaves, basil, mint, watercress, and crispy rice crackers... Recently, people have also been using rice paper wrappers to wrap the dish, which is also quite interesting.
Crispy rice
Crispy rice from Ninh Binh is one of the dishes that showcases the essence of rice without being ostentatious or overly elaborate. It is said that Ninh Binh crispy rice has a rather long history.
Legend has it that, during the French colonial period in the late 19th century, a young man named Hoang Thang from Ninh Binh went to Hanoi to work for a large Chinese restaurant. Hoang Thang fell in love with the owner's daughter, but his family opposed the relationship. Unable to marry the owner's daughter, Hoang Thang quit his job and returned to his hometown. During his time at the restaurant, he learned many secrets of preparing delicious dishes and created a restaurant specializing in crispy rice. Later, his former boss invited him to collaborate on opening several new restaurants and even married his daughter to him. Since then, the delicious crispy rice he created has been associated with this touching love story.
Making crispy rice requires great skill and meticulousness. The rice is cooked with just the right amount of water, achieving the perfect consistency. When the rice is cooked through, it must be quickly removed from the pot, leaving only the slightly burnt bottom layer. It is then cooked again, rotating the pot to ensure even cooking and a uniformly crispy crust. These crusty pieces are then removed from the pot, broken into bite-sized pieces, and dried (or dehydrated) for easy preservation. When served, the rice is fried until crispy. During frying, the crispy rice can be seasoned with various spices to achieve the richest and most delicious flavor. Some people even like to top it with a layer of fluffy white shredded pork floss, making it incredibly appealing.
The unseasoned crispy rice is served with a rich dipping sauce made with fish sauce, fried shallots, shrimp paste, and other ingredients. The crispy rice pieces are not dry at all, but instead melt in your mouth, fragrant and delicious, with a hint of rustic charm in each grain.
Kim Son eel salad
Visiting Kim Son in Ninh Binh, you can not only savor the spicy flavor of local rice wine but also enjoy the incredibly fresh and delicious snakehead fish salad. While snakehead fish salad is famous in Trang Cat, Hai Phong, you can also enjoy equally delicious dishes here. According to locals, the two-month rainy season is the peak season for catching snakehead fish. Snakehead fish belong to the same family as eels, but they live in slightly salty water (large snakehead) and brackish water (slightly brackish snakehead). Large snakehead fish are wide, while brackish snakehead are long. Snakehead fish resemble eels in length but are similar in width to eels. Some snakehead fish are a meter long, while smaller ones weigh 3-4 ounces, and larger ones weigh up to a kilogram. Snakehead fish are slippery and fierce, making them difficult to catch.
Making snakehead fish salad – a specialty of Ninh Binh – isn't difficult, but under the skillful hands of the people of Kim Son, snakehead fish salad becomes a true delicacy. According to experienced cooks, to prevent the salad from having a fishy smell, after catching the fish, they must use lime water, ash water, and bamboo leaves to thoroughly remove the slime from the skin.
The fish preparation is also slightly different from usual; you have to cut the fish along the backbone like you would with an eel to remove the bones. The fresh fish meat, sliced into pieces, has a very attractive pink color, similar to snakehead fish meat. The seasoning is made from roasted and ground glutinous rice, which gives it a fragrant and nutty aroma. Once everything is ready, you must quickly mix the fish meat with the seasoning to enhance the flavor.
The fish skin is deep-fried until crispy and then wrapped in the salad. Interestingly, the fish bones, after being filleted, are not discarded but are ground into a paste to make a vinegar sauce. This sauce is made with ginger, garlic, chili peppers, black pepper, and finely chopped lemongrass. The vinegar should be dark red, thick, and fragrant with spices; when poured over the salad, it shouldn't drip onto your hands. The salad is served with sesame rice crackers and various herbs such as Houttuynia cordata, coriander, fig leaves, Centella asiatica, and plum leaves.
Yen Mac fermented pork sausage
While fermented pork sausage (nem chua) is a famous specialty of Thanh Hoa province, visitors to Yen Mac, Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province, will be pleasantly surprised by its equally delicious taste.
Yen Mac fermented pork sausage has a long history, but currently, not many people can make this special type of sausage. The sausage must be dry and loose (unlike Thanh Hoa fermented pork sausage, which forms a cohesive, non-loose mass) while still maintaining its soft, chewy texture and delicious aroma. Meat from the hind leg or upper part along the spine of the pig is usually chosen. The lean meat is carefully trimmed, thinly sliced across the grain, and pounded in a mortar until smooth. A small amount of pork skin is mixed in according to the right ratio; the thinly sliced skin adheres tightly to the lean meat, standing out against the rosy background of the meat, creating a visually appealing and attractive dish.
Yen Mac fermented pork sausage (nem chua) is typically wrapped in a layer of fragrant guava leaves before being wrapped in a thick layer of fresh banana leaves. The sausage is tightly and securely wrapped to allow for rapid fermentation. Making nem chua is such a laborious process, but the most exciting part is the taste. Eyes filled with longing are glued to the hands slowly peeling away layer after layer of banana leaves. When the last leaf is removed, the reddish-pink sausage meat is revealed, with a wonderfully tangy and fragrant aroma. The sausage is incredibly appealing with its loose, crumbly texture. It's best enjoyed with fig leaves, guava leaves, or Gynura procumbens leaves... dipped into a bowl of fish sauce with lime, garlic, and chili... All the flavors seem to condense on the tongue, creating an unforgettable aftertaste.
Rock snails
Nature has bestowed upon Ninh Binh another unique delicacy: mountain snails, a rare commodity found only in mountainous areas. These mountain snails can be found in many parts of Ninh Binh province, but they breed and live in the highest concentrations in Tam Diep, Yen Mo, and Nho Quan districts. Mountain snails typically only appear during the humid rainy season, from April to August. For the rest of the year, they usually bury themselves underground, in rock crevices, or under thick layers of leaves.
In addition, Ninh Binh is also famous for its delicious dishes such as Gia Vien shrimp paste, Phat Diem vermicelli soup with meatballs, sour fish soup with snakehead fish, eel vermicelli, duck stew, grilled fish with straw during harvest season, ant egg sticky rice... And each of these dishes contributes to the unique and interesting character of this wild, mountainous land.
If you have the chance to visit Ninh Binh, be sure to bring back some local specialties as gifts for your family and friends. Surely, no one will forget the rich, harmonious flavors in each of these specialties, which embody the vibrant culinary spirit of the people in this ancient capital.
